Now, students of Worli school use their iPods to study

In Sudhanshu Mathur’s iPod, Li’l Wayne and Eminem songs are making way for new audio-visual content. Mathur, 10, has been bopping to French songs, absorbing information on longitudes and latitudes and recapping how to write a formal letter.

In Sudhanshu Mathur’s iPod, Li’l Wayne and Eminem songs are making way for new audio-visual content. Mathur, 10, has been bopping to French songs, absorbing information on longitudes and latitudes and recapping how to write a formal letter.

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DY Patil International School (DYPIS) at Worli, where Mathur is a Class VI student, has recently launched a series of podcasts for students of Class VI and VII on different subjects – Maths, Hindi, English, French, Science, Social Studies and IT. Podcasts – a new form of visual and audio online media – are encapsulated episodes of information that can be downloaded and viewed/listened to on iPods.

“It’s so much more exciting to listen and watch than read from a book,” said Mathur. “It’s also more useful because I can carry it around and listen to lessons anywhere.”

Portable devices such as the iPod are not allowed in schools, but DYPIS thought it was the best way to deliver content by harnessing technology. “Colleges and schools abroad do this regularly. So, we thought, why not introduce this here. It’s a great way to reach out to students,” said Husein Burhani, academic director at the school.

Thus, lessons, experiments and other material are compressed into the technology-friendly format that students can relate to. No one is really keeping score, but the podcast of a French songs episode is the unofficial chart-topper, added Burhani.

The groundswell of appreciation for the two-week old pilot project has further enthused the school, and they plan to introduce podcasts for higher classes too. “Podcasting will slowly but surely change the teaching and learning experience significantly for DYPIS students,” reads a section of the school’s latest newsletter.

“It’s helpful for last minute studying. You can even listen to lessons in the car, on the way to school,” said Priyanshi Jain, 11.